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In 2015, full-year on full-year global lottery sales grew 2%, moderating sharply from 2014 full-year on full-year sales growth of 9.9%. Strong growth in the Americas over the whole year 2015 was offset by a contraction in sales in the Asia Pacific region over the second half of 2015, with the result that annual growth in global lottery sales is now at its lowest point in five years, as the attendant graph (right and below) shows.

images/stories/salesindex_2015/QLSI_FY_2015_regions_web.jpg

Basel, 7 April 2016—In 2015, full-year on full-year global lottery sales grew 2%, moderating sharply from 2014 full-year on full-year sales growth of 9.9%. Strong growth in the Americas over the whole year 2015 was offset by a contraction in sales in the Asia Pacific region over the second half of 2015, with the result that annual growth in global lottery sales is now at its lowest point in five years, as the attendant graph (right and below) shows.

The Latin American region fared best in 2015, with participating Latin American lotteries reporting an aggregate increase in sales of 19.1% for 2015 over 2014. Continuing its dominant run, Argentina’s Lotería Nacional Sociedad del Estado was the strongest performer, reporting an increase in sales of 25.5% for FY 2015, as against FY 2014. Owing to very strong first-half sales of their flagship Lotto product, Chile's Polla Chilena also performed robustly, with sales at the Chilean national lottery increasing 15.4% over the course of 2015, as against the course of 2014. Building on a fourth-quarter on fourth-quarter increase in revenue of 23%, sales at Brazil’s Caixa Econômica Federal grew 10.2% over FY 2015, as against FY 2014. The fourth-quarter on fourth-quarter increase in sales at the Brazilian national lottery was due to several factors. In November 2015, the lottery offered the largest jackpot ever on its Mega-Sena product, resulting in the lottery’s best monthly performance for 2015, while a special year-end draw called Mega da Virada helped the Brazilian lottery in recording its second highest monthly sales revenue of the year.

For its part, the North American market continued to strengthen, with participating North American lotteries sweeping the board once again to record an aggregate full-year on full-year increase in sales of 8%. Canada’s BCLC was the stellar performer, reporting a twelve-month on twelve-month increase in sales of 14.5%. Following hard on the heels of BCLC was the California Lottery, which saw its sales increase by 14.1% year-on-year. Canada’s Ontario Lottery and Gaming also enjoyed double-digit growth over the same timeframe, seeing its sales grow by 12.8%. The Kentucky Lottery, Florida Lottery, and the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation also all performed strongly, reporting FY-on-FY increases in sales of 8.7%, 7.8%, and 7.2% respectively, while sales at the Canada’s Loto-Quebec and the U.S.’s Connecticut Lottery grew by 6.5% and 5.9% respectively over the same period. The positive results from North America were set against the backdrop of the improving U.S. economy, which saw real GDP increasing 2.4% percent in 2015 (that is, from the 2014 annual level to the 2015 annual level).

In the African market, the situation was similar to that reported for the previous quarter. For FY 2015, African lotteries participating in the WLA Quarterly Lottery Sales Indicator reported an aggregate increase in sales of 3.4%, as against FY 2014. Continuing its strong recent form, Ghana’s National Lottery Authority witnessed an increase in sales of 19.7% for whole year 2015, as against whole year 2014. Both Moroccan lotteries continued to fare well, with La Marocaine des Jeux seeing its FY-on-FY sales increase by 12.5% and Loterie Nationale seeing its sales rise by 10.1% over the same period. Offsetting these results, sales at the Mauritius National Lottery contracted sharply over the twelve months of 2015, as against the corresponding revenue period of 2014.

The picture in Europe also mirrored that of the previous quarter, where the impressive double-digit growth of several central European lotteries was offset by decreases in sales elsewhere in Europe. As a result, participating European lotteries reported an aggregate increase in sales of 1.3% for full-year 2015 versus full-year 2014. For their part, Poland’s Totalizator Sportowy and Hungary’s Szerencsejáték Zrt. continued their standout form, reporting full-year on full-year increases in sales of 18.2% and 15.5% respectively. The increase in sales at Szerencsejáték Zrt. was attributable to several factors, including the introduction of a new technological system (AEGIS) in August 2015, which allowed the Hungarian National Lottery to extend its range of sports betting offerings, and the launch of a seasonal instant ticket in the lead-up to Christmas. Counterbalancing these results, sales at Greece’s OPAP and Sweden’s Svenska Spel held steady over full-year 2015, as against full-year 2014, while sales at Italy’s Lottomatica contracted over the same timeframe. Underpinning the weaker performance of Europe as a whole was the wider European economy, where GDP increased by a modest 1.5% in the Euro area (EA19) and by 1.8% in the EU28 over the whole year 2015.

In the Asia Pacific region, sales moderated yet again, with the result that participating Asia Pacific lotteries saw full-year on full-year sales contract by 1.6%. The slowdown in sales in Asia Pacific was largely attributable to the mainland Chinese lotteries, with the China Sports Lottery recording a full-year on full-year decrease in sales of 5.7%, and the Chinese Welfare lottery reporting a full-year on full-year decrease in sales of 2.2%. Overall, total lottery sales were down 3.8% year-on-year in mainland China, with total lotto sales being down 4.9%. Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, Australia’s Lotterywest saw its sales increase by 6.7% for FY 2015, as against FY 2014, while Japan’s Takara-kuji lottery saw its sales hold steady over the same timeframe.

We close this edition of the WLA Quarterly Lottery Sales Indicator with the addition of the B.C. Lottery to the list of lotteries participating in the WLA Quarterly Lottery Sales Indicator. We extend a warm welcome to our newest member and look forward to bringing you the first quarter results shortly.

Jean-Luc Moner-BanetWLA President

* Based on sales of participating lotteries. Participating lotteries by region:

Africa**

Latin America

Ghana: National Lottery Authority

Argentina: Lotería Nacional Sociedad del Estado

Mauritius: Mauritius National Lottery

Brazil: Caixa Econômica Federal

Morocco: La Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports

Chile: Polla Chilena de Beneficencia

Morocco: Loterie Nationale

Mexico: Lotería National para la Asistencia Pública

Asia Pacific

North America

Australia: Lotterywest

Canada: BCLC

China: China Sports Lottery

Canada: Loto-Québec

China: Chinese Welfare Lottery

Canada: Ontario Lottery

Hong Kong: HKJC

USA: California Lottery

Japan: Mizuho Bank Ltd.

USA: Connecticut Lottery Corporation

Europe

USA: Florida Lottery

Czech Republic: SAZKA a.s.

USA: Kentucky Lottery Corporation

Finland: Veikkaus Oy

USA: Minnesota State Lottery

France: Francaise des Jeux

USA: New York State Lottery

Greece: OPAP

USA: Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation

Hungary: Szerencsejáték Zrt.

Italy: Lottomatica S.p.A

Norway: Norsk Tipping AS

Poland: Totalizator Sportowy Sp. z o.o.

Spain: Loterías y Apuestas del Estado

Spain: Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles

Sweden: AB Svenska Spel

Switerland: La Loterie Romande

United Kingdom: Camelot UK Lotteries Limited

All WLA members receive the WLA Quarterly Lottery Sales Indicator. Individual sales figures are confidential, and are available only to participating lotteries. Participating lotteries receive a separate, more detailed breakdown of quarterly sales figures. For enquiries regarding participation in the WLA Quarterly Lottery Sales Indicator, please contact Dr. Matthew Spinks (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) at the WLA Basel business office.

** Due to the changeover of license holder, sales from the National Lottery of South Africa have been omitted in this edition.